Hard drive Switch Problems

Question

Ok, so I just bought a new hard drive for my Dell Dimension 2400 Series that is 250GB as compared to the pre installed 40GB. I have tried several times to boot up with the new hard drive as the Slave drive (The 40GB set as Master). When I transfered all my files into my F Drive (new hard drive) it refused to load Boot files. So, I restarted my computer.

When I restarted my computer I went to Boot Menu, and tried to run it from my CD Drive, so as to load in Microsoft Windows XP into the new Drive. This enacted a screen where my computer said it was loading/finished loading the Windows XP.

Next, I once more restart my computer with the new hard drive as the Master and the old as the Slave. This opted an error screen from my computer that stated that Primary Drive 1 and Secondary Drive 1 could not be found. I have tried several other methods in which to boot from my Old and New drive. Now, when I took away the new drive from my system completely it will go to the boot beginning and then halt for roughly 20 seconds. After the 20 seconds a menu will come up to choose what to boot from. I have to select my C drive each time.

I just want to figure out how to get my new drive to take the place of my old drive. Any suggestions/questions that could lead to suggestions would be appreciated.

ObsoleteComps · Answer

Will it be permanently non bootable? Or just temporarily?

ejn63 · Answer

Permanently; you'll need to re-clone.

ejn63 · Answer

First, you cannot copy the files from one drive to the other manually and wind up with a bootable drive. There are utilities that can do the job - some free from drive makers (Seagate, Maxtor and WD); others are not free (Acronis True IMage, Symantec Ghost).

BEFORE you clone the drive, you must have Service Pack 2 installed and have large drive support enabled.

Once you clone, immediately shut down and boot the system with ONLY the new drive in place. After that is done successfully you can add the old drive as a secondary. If you boot the new drive as a slave to the old master, or try to boot both drives on the first boot after cloning, you will wind up with a non-bootable new drive.

ejn63 · Answer

You're pretty much out of luck. Back up the data you need to save, install the drive as you want it, and reinstall XP from scratch.

You can download SP2 from Microsoft and slipstream it into your existing Windows CD.

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp

ObsoleteComps · Answer

Ok, how can i get Service Pack 2? I am very broke. I can use one of the programs (Ghost most likely) to reclone with boot files... but if its PERMANENTLY non bootable, how would recloning solve that problem? (After the first cloning I completely wiped the new hard drive of all information, if thats of any relevance.)

Storage, Drives & Media

Hard drive Switch Problems

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